Deposit down- Now I'm no sure I can tow it. manual not clear

Did they put their "assurance" in the purchase contract?

You'll find a lot of variables depending on how the truck is optioned (w/tow package or not), what axle ratio, crew cab or not, etc. Payload capacity, hitch capacity, tire capacities, tow rating, tongue weight, axle capacities, GVWR, GCWR. These all come in to play. You'll have to track down all these numbers.

Some will say to hit the scales or the world will come to an end and that's good advice at some point. It sounds to me like you're just trying to gather some general information right now.

Hopefully someone with experience and knowledge of the Tundra will chime in soon.

Tundras towing rating is based on a entry level vehicle, with 1/4 tank of fuel and a 150 pound driver. Everything else is subtracted from the towing rating. Now, load up like your going camping and hit the scales. Subtract the scaled weight from its GVWR as listed on the drivers door post. You now have how much weight you can have for tongue weight. Tongue weight is around 12% of a trailers loaded weight. In your case use 12% of the trailers GVWR. Are you over or under?

l2yangop wrote:
Long time lurker, first time poster. Be gentle :)

So I put down a deposit on a 5500b 29ft travel trailer yesterday with the assurance from the sales people that my truck could handle it. I have a 2008 Tundra 1/4 ton 4x4. GVWR 7100lbs

Of course I had to double check his math when I got home and low and behold, my window sticker says a towing capacity of 5000 lbs. That seems low to me so I checked the manual. The manual says 8700 with GCWR of 14,000lbs. I can't get a straight answer from local dealerships, so here I am. Any tips from more experienced travelers?

***Link Removed***

Salespeople do NOT know if your truck can SAFELY tow a TT. 99% of them don't have a clue. Their only concern is that you buy one from them. I had a salesman tell me that I could tow a TT that I was just walking thru to look at KNOWING I could NOT tow it. :R

Towing right at the recommended towing capacity does not ensure you can 'safely' tow the TT. Length of the TT needs to be put into the equation also to prevent the tail wagging the dog.

Albiet you will find many chiming in that it is ok. Safely towing is the key not how much your truck is rated for on a sticker. Hope some of the responses here help you make the decision. IMHO I would not tow a 29 ft with a Tundra. You will be exhaustingly 'on' the entire time driving it.

If you have the 5.7L with 4.30 gears and trans cooler, you should be good.

You'll get a lot of replies, I think. I'll tell you that it's one thing to tow a max load on a flat trailer, like say hauling a tractor or something, and another thing entirely to to a max load travel trailer.

I'm sure others with Tundra experience will chime in. Hope so.
I'd suggest editing your title, take out the deposit stuff and say something about Tundra tow capacity. You'll attract the right readers then.

Also, just put Tundra in the search box on this page and see what comes up. I just did and there are some posts about people with similar TTs to what you are talking about.